Just Use Email – How to Use Email for Everything

Re:Just Use Email – How to Use Email for Everything by bluefirebrand on Tuesday May 11, 2021 @06:30PM (#27124419)

I'm with you, I absolutely cannot stand using email unless I absolutely have to, which is mostly just at work.

And it's a fine way for government or businesses to contact me, just like mail was.

But just like mail letter writing declined after the invention of the telephone, e-mail has declined after the invention of IM

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Re:Just Use Email – How to Use Email for Everything by throwawayboise on Tuesday May 11, 2021 @07:01PM (#27124711)

I remember using email in an IM-like fashion, having a real-time back and forth conversation. The only difference is that most email clients quote the entire conversation on every reply.

A lightweight client could have an IM-like interface that does not quote the original message on replies. Who cares if it's SMTP under the covers, the whole experience could feel quite IM-like and it would have all the other benefits of email (not being locked in to a specific provider being the main one).

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Re:Just Use Email – How to Use Email for Everything by paxys on Tuesday May 11, 2021 @07:06PM (#27124744)

The problem is that the moment you try and add even the most basic value-add features, other email clients can't understand you anymore. And this applies to fundamental things like identity verification, encryption and group chats.

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Re:Just Use Email – How to Use Email for Everything by throwawayboise on Tuesday May 11, 2021 @07:13PM (#27124798)

Technically I don't see an issue with doing these things in a portable, standard way. Email signature and encryption (s/mime) has existed for a long time and most mainstream clients know how to handle it. The nut that has still not been cracked very well AFAIK is how to create and share public keys in a seamless way.

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Re:Just Use Email – How to Use Email for Everything by dijit on Tuesday May 11, 2021 @07:32PM (#27124941)

For S/MIME you don’t need to share keys. Your private key gets signed by a CA that you both trust.

You can even get free S/‘MIME certificates that validate on all clients.

People don’t do it because encrypted mail can’t be searched or archived, and it becomes cumbersome to have a wider array of clients.

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Re:Just Use Email – How to Use Email for Everything by pseudalopex on Tuesday May 11, 2021 @07:08PM (#27124759)

Like DeltaChat.[1]

[1] https://delta.chat/en/

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Re:Just Use Email – How to Use Email for Everything by brongondwana on Tuesday May 11, 2021 @08:53PM (#27125443)

That's the basic idea behind "Chat over IMAP", which for various reasons hasn't seen as much effort put into it as many of us would like (not that I can talk, I haven't done anything).

HN discussion from when it was launched is here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19216077

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Re:Just Use Email – How to Use Email for Everything by leephillips on Tuesday May 11, 2021 @07:26PM (#27124904)

I agree. Email is fast enough to have a real-time conversation, I do it often. Maybe not as instant as WhatsApp, etc, but with other advantages.

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Re:Just Use Email – How to Use Email for Everything by c22 on Wednesday May 12, 2021 @05:51AM (#27128497)

Right now I need to maintain (and routinely check) a physical mailing address, a telephone number, and an email address just in order to set up and use various day-to-day services provided by government and businesses. When will it end?

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